Tottenham Hotspur have closed the gap to Premier League leaders Chelsea back to nine points courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough at White Hart Lane this evening.
Harry Kane took his tally for the season to 14 with a second-half penalty as Spurs bounced back from their goalless draw against Sunderland on Tuesday to extend their unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions.
Boro went into the match having seen the gap to the relegation zone cut to just one point courtesy of results earlier in the day, but the visitors were the first to threaten when top scorer Alvaro Negredo climbed highest in the area to nod Adama Traore's cross over the bar.
Spurs soon gained control of the game, though, and put Boro under heavy pressure for the rest of the half as they looked to capitalise on defeats for Arsenal and Liverpool earlier in the day.
Son Heung-min, who opened the scoring after just seven minutes in the reverse fixture, almost broke the deadlock early on again when he was played through on goal by Dele Alli, but Victor Valdes denied the South Korean with a smart stop.
Alli had a chance of his own shortly afterwards as Spurs pushed for an early breakthrough, but he could only find the side-netting having been picked out by a defence-splitting pass from Christian Eriksen.
Boro managed to stem the flow of chances a little as the half wore on, but Spurs continued to dominate possession and came within the width of the post of scoring in the 25th minute when Toby Alderweireld's header clipped the outside of the upright.
Kane was the next to come close for the home side when he was picked out by Son's cross from the left flank, but he couldn't keep his header down having peeled away from his marker.
The England international did have the ball in the back of the net with just three minutes remaining of the half when he fired another Son cross into the roof of the net, but his celebrations were correctly cut short by the linesman's flag.
Boro managed to hold out until half time, but Spurs were quickly back on the attack upon the restart and Valdes was called into action again six minutes into the second half when he got down well to deny an effort from Eriksen.
The breakthrough did finally arrive shortly before the hour mark when Son was brought down by Bernardo Espinosa inside the area, and Kane made no mistake from the resulting penalty as he tucked the spot kick into the bottom corner.
Having toiled for one goal, a second almost arrived immediately afterwards when Eriksen found space inside the area and let fly, but Valdes was equal to it and Alli was unable to reach the rebound.
Tottenham's lead forced Boro to come out of their shells a little, which in turn left them more prone to the counter-attack and a quick break almost provided a second goal for Spurs with just over 20 minutes remaining, but Son's strike slammed into the side-netting.
Boro began to apply some pressure towards the closing stages of the match, and they almost levelled things up in spectacular fashion when Negredo's acrobatic bicycle kick flashed narrowly past the far post.
Boro's best chance arrived in the second minute of stoppage time, though, as Patrick Bamford and Negredo combined to set up Marten de Roon, only for the Dutch midfielder to drag a first-time volley wide of the target when he should have done better.
Spurs were able to hold out for all three points as their winning streak at home extends to 10 games in all competitions, including seven on the bounce in the Premier League for the first time since December 2006.
Crucially, Mauricio Pochettino's side now sit three points clear of Arsenal and four above both Liverpool and Manchester City, the latter of whom will have the chance to close that gap back to one tomorrow.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, are just one point clear of danger and two off the bottom of the table following a seven-match winless streak, while they have now failed to win any of their last 11 Premier League away games.
Spurs are next in action when they face Liverpool at Anfield in a week, while Boro also take on Merseyside opposition when they host Everton at the Riverside Stadium.
Barney Corkhill
